Aug. 18 (Bloomberg) -- Coffee fruit in Vietnam are fully
grown and of similar size to recent years after rains boosted
crop development, according to producers in the biggest supplier
of robusta beans used by Nestle SA. Futures fell.

Farmers have applied two rounds of fertilizer and are
preparing for a final round in two to three weeks before
harvesting starts in October, they said. Production may drop 3
percent to 1.65 million metric tons in 2014-2015 from a record a
year earlier, according to a Bloomberg survey this month.

The start of the harvest may pressure futures in London
which have climbed 16 percent this year on speculation that
consumption will outstrip supply. The robusta shortfall will be
1.6 million bags, or 96,000 tons, in 2014-2015, according to
Volcafe Ltd. Total coffee demand will exceed output by as much
as 10 million bags, the International Coffee Organization said
this month, based on research by others.

“Cherries have basically reached their full size after
heavy rains,” said Vu Dinh Noi, head of a production team at
state-owned Thang Loi Coffee Co., the biggest grower. “The key
now is applying fertilizer and preventing disease.” A mix of
rainy and sunny days would help, he said by phone on Aug. 13.

Futures lost as much as 0.8 percent to $1,946 a ton on NYSE
Liffe today before trading at $1,955. Prices advanced 4.4
percent in July, rising for a second straight month, after an 11
percent slump in May. Arabica, the variety favored by Starbucks
Corp., jumped 72 percent to $1.9120 a pound this year.

‘Heavy Showers’

“The cherry size is now similar to the average over the
past five years,” said Cao Van Tu, chairman of Dak Lak-based Ea
Pok Coffee Co. “While heavy showers did cause cherries to fall
off on our plantation, our agronomists addressed the issue so
the amount affected was not that much,” he said by phone.

The last record crop probably stressed trees and may reduce
yields, and heavy rains last month spurred diseases in some
regions and resulted in loss of cherries, Phan Hung Anh, deputy
director of Dak Lak-based Anh Minh Co., the largest private
exporter by volume, said by phone this month.

Rainfall recorded in Dak Lak averaged 400.4 millimeters in
July at 10 stations, including one in neighboring Dak Nong
province, said the Meteorology and Hydrology Department in the
province, which represents about 30 percent of the harvest.
That’s more than double 192.5 millimeters a year earlier.

Precipitation in the province averaged 86.7 millimeters in
the first 10 days of August, less than 100.9 millimeters a year
ago. Rainfall for Aug. 11 to Aug. 20 is forecast to be similar
or lower than the average in previous years, with most regions
receiving 30 to 50 millimeters, the weather office said Aug. 12.

“The intensity and frequency of rains has subsided in the
last one week,” Tong Teik Pte, a company owned by RCMA
Commodities Asia Pte, wrote in an Aug. 13 report. “Good
sunshine and overcast skies present favorable weather for the
development of cherries.”